# Are my heartfelt beads working ok? pls help



## Ewan154 (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi,
I put DS water in my heartfelt beads yesterday.(about a drop) Today the beads are nearly all white-are the beads working ok?

The humidity has stayed at steady 62%

How often shoud you have to put DS water in the beads?

And should I put more DS water in today?


Pls help


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## FWTX (Feb 9, 2011)

Some start to turn "clearish" when hydrated - one drop isn’t going to change anything.
You need to get a spray bottle and spritz the beads lightly - the rh should rise - but do not over wet them
- as a matter of fact putting water straight on them can cause them to fracture.


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## loulax07 (Dec 17, 2011)

FWTX said:


> - as a matter of fact putting water straight on them can cause them to fracture.


if this is true, why do they give you a syringe to inject them with DW?


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## Poneill272 (Oct 29, 2010)

One drop is not enough. Use a spray bottle and spray them till about 50-75% of them are clear. They won't fracture, and if some do, it won't matter, and you probably won't even know it. I've been doing this for about a year and a half with no problem, and this is also the most popular way of hydrating the beads.


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## Ewan154 (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi,
I use a syringe type/water dropper to wet the beads.


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## loulax07 (Dec 17, 2011)

I've tried using the syringe they give u and water just drips off the unit, not making its way into the unit
I may try to spray it


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## ckay (May 10, 2010)

They do fracture. I've developed "bead dust" on the bottom of my humidors.


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## Ewan154 (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi,
The problem is when I use a spay bottle, the beads seem to get to wet and then the humidity goes up to 70%


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## Poneill272 (Oct 29, 2010)

Ewan154 said:


> Hi,
> The problem is when I use a spay bottle, the beads seem to get to wet and then the humidity goes up to 70%


What % are your beads, what type of container are they in? Also, what size is your humidor?


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## Ewan154 (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.

Here is a picture of my puck with beads in it.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## Ewan154 (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi,
Here is a picture of my very small humi


Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## Poneill272 (Oct 29, 2010)

Ok, thanks for the pic. If you don't want to use the spray bottle, that syringe should be fine. I have a cpl of them too. For the puck, since I can see that the beads are very dry, fill that syringe and squeeze the entire amount into the puck, spiraling around evenly. Use 1 - 1 1/2 syringe fills of water. And for the tube, hold it upright, and tap the cap so as to knock the beads down away from it, take the cap off carefully so you don't jerk when it comes off, and squeeze one full syringe full in that end. Repeat for the other end. Before placing the puck and tube back in the humi, make sure all the residual water has evaporated from the surfaces. 

Also, you may have a hard time keeping your humidity stabilized, because of the amount of cigars in it at the moment. When you get it about half full or more, you will have a much easier time keeping your humidity steady.

Let me know if you have any more questions, and if you want, take a pic after you wet your beads and post it. I'll check it out for you.

And remember when you are hydrating your beads, regardless of how much water I told you to use, 50-75% OF THE BEADS SHOULD BE CLEAR, AND THE REST SHOULD STILL BE WHITE.

The most likely reason you were getting 70% before, is because there were probably little pools of extra water. Also, if you could possibly poke a cpl holes in a bottom corner of the puck, and slightly tilt it so extra water can drain out as you hydrate the beads, that would help you alot too.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

I don't use beads i use Kitty Litter but the process is the same. I like to use a spray bottle as Phil has said don't over hydrate. I have found that never more than 50% hydration is required!


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## Ewan154 (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. Some good idea's there.


I tried the spray bottle and wet about half off the beads so far the humidity has stay at 63% since.

I don't add any DS water to the beads in the blue tube, just the puck.

Been looking at my cigars and some of them feel soft.


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## Poneill272 (Oct 29, 2010)

Ewan154 said:


> Hi,
> Thanks for the reply. Some good idea's there.
> 
> I tried the spray bottle and wet about half off the beads so far the humidity has stay at 63% since.
> ...


At this point, it would be a good idea to add some water to the tube too, because the beads are probably really dry, and will suck the moisture from the wet beads, and you could end up having to add more water sooner. If you get it all stabilized first, then adding water to only the puck would work well.


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## Ewan154 (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi,
Thanks for the quick reply. 

I think I'm going to buy a new puck and some new beads. The old puck gives off a plastic smell.

My cigars feel soft and spongy-are they ruined?

do other people have "these" problems?


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## Dubv23 (Aug 3, 2011)

I'm having trouble maintaining humidity now but its the dry winter air so I just spray them more frequently. The beads are fine in reality it's just the climate since desktop humidors aren't 100% air tight.


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## nishdog007 (Oct 27, 2011)

From what i understand... you should have 90% of your beads wet and 10% dry. More importantly, what % beads did you order?


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## Ewan154 (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi,
Thanks for all the replies. 

I order more 65% beads.

Been checking my cigars over and my cigars are hard today.


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## Mante (Dec 25, 2009)

nishdog007 said:


> From what i understand... you should have 90% of your beads wet and 10% dry. More importantly, what % beads did you order?


Heartfelt recommend no more than 50% and this works in practice for many.



Poneill272 said:


> Also, you may have a hard time keeping your humidity stabilized, because of the amount of cigars in it at the moment. When you get it about half full or more, you will have a much easier time keeping your humidity steady.


 This is the biggest problem I see here. Fill that baby with cigars & you will have a much easier time of it.

Your cigars are not "ruined" Ewan, you just need to relax & let the humidor settle (and put some more smokes in there  ). Small humidors can be fickle until they stabilize as every time they are opened the % of air loss, hence RH stability, is higher.


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## Ewan154 (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi,
I had a RYJ cigar tonight. When I light it, it made a really bad cracking noise and had a uneven burn. Then I tried a Cohiba "siglo 1" that has been in the humi about a week after the RYJ cigars and that was fine.

It seem's that the RYJ cigars are ruined. I have 5 off them left.

The humidity has stayed about 63% all day. 

Don't want to buy to many cigars incase they all get ruined.


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## Ewan154 (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi,
decided to re-season my humidor. So far the readings have been

11:10 62%
11:25 62%
12:15 62%
12:45 62%
1 :18 63%
1 :50 64% 

I puy my cigars back into the tubes they come in.


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## alstare2000 (Jan 1, 2012)

I have a small humidor, and when I open it to just check my stash humidity drops and takes 2-3 days to bounce back but still waiting for my HF beads. I learned that for humidity you just need to give some time to settle.


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## chasingstanley (Jan 24, 2011)

HF Beads work great and for many years, let them do their work, I know it's hard but try to keep that lid closed brother!


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## Stinky (Mar 27, 2006)

1st:
Contact HeartFelt! David Asp is the owner and he's not only a really nice (and accommodating) gent, he's a cigar enthusiast like us! He's also an expert on the bead technology. 

2nd:
Every time you open your humidor, all the humidified air dissipates in the first 2 seconds. It becomes filled with "room-air" and the ambient humidity. So, while you're selecting a cigar or looking at the hydrometer, you make the hydration system start all over. 

3rd:
I'm not sure why I'm counting. Just making a few points. We live in the desert and fight really hard to keep the humidity 'up' in the humidors. I use Propylene Glycol mixed 50-50 with Distilled Water and it works great for me. But, that goes way back into the late 1990's. Beads came out in the early 2000's and have become the 'new-and-improved' hydration system where you can select the humidity lever you prefer. 

Also:
Stop obsessing on the humidity! You don't need to look inside your humidor every 45-minutes!! Be careful whose advice you take! Ask an expert (like David at HeartFelt).


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## Ewan154 (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi,
Thanks for the replies everyone.


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## Mante (Dec 25, 2009)

Stinky said:


> Also:
> Stop obsessing on the humidity! You don't need to look inside your humidor every 45-minutes.


 Very good advice & worth taking on board.


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## Ewan154 (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi,
Even though the humidity has stay at 65%. When I added more DS water the humidity jumped to 67%. My cigars are still soft.

I looks like this hobbie is not for me. I'm going to empty my humi and sell it.

Thanks for all the help and advice.

Ewan


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## talidin (Aug 4, 2011)

It can be frustrating at first. I would urge you to take some of the other BOTL's advice. It almost sounds like your hygrometer is off. That would explain all the problems that you have been having.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Don't give up that soon all is not lost!

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...n/276966-kitty-litter-set-up.html#post3483685


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## chasingstanley (Jan 24, 2011)

Ewan154 said:


> Hi,
> Even though the humidity has stay at 65%. When I added more DS water the humidity jumped to 67%. My cigars are still soft.
> 
> I looks like this hobbie is not for me. I'm going to empty my humi and sell it.
> ...


I'll gladly take these cigars off your hands...
On a serious note: read, read, read and read some more here on puff and then read some more even... you won't be disappointed in the end.


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## LibertyToad (Jul 27, 2008)

loulax07 said:


> I've tried using the syringe they give u and water just drips off the unit, not making its way into the unit
> I may try to spray it


Using the syringe is slightly tricky. Try holding it at an angle right against the tube (I assume you're using the tubes). If you have to, you could also remove the cap on the tube--some beads will probably spill out when you do this but it isn't a big deal. The beads will be clear when saturated. I typically saturate about 50% of them or so, maybe a bit more. You'll get the hang of it--the beads are great.

The humidity will fluctuate a bit--that's normal. Don't worry about it being exact--it's going to shift around a few percentage points normally.


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## wildturkey (May 10, 2011)

Beads are awesome. I always use passive method of adding water. That is I put distilled water in a dish which I place in a tupperwate container with beads. I then place container on top of fridge and leave it overnight. I no longer spray or physically put water on beads as it is too easy to allow too much moisture into the system. You want lots of dry beads to absorb and fewer hydratef beads to add when necessary. For me I keep them mostly dry, over 50% white beads. In winter I find 50/50 works good.


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